Welder by day, boxer by night

Courtesy Photo | Spc. Aaron Arredondo (right), a mechanic with Company B, 725th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, shows off the skills he has learned training with Sgt. Charles Gable. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Ben Post)  

ISKANDARIYAH, IRAQ

07.05.2007

Courtesy Story

2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 11th Airborne Division Public Affairs

By Capt. Carolyn Carden
4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division

KALSU, Iraq – The basic definition of welding is uniting, and Sgt. Charles Gable, a welder from Willow Grove, Pa., is a perfect example of this.

Gable, a paratrooper with the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, has united a bunch of ragtag scrappers and turned them into a trained group of Soldiers skilled in the sweet science of boxing.

By day he provides the brigade with many products to include pop-up targets for the firing range, sniper screens for all gunner protection kits and guard tower improvements.

"As a welder, discipline is key due to the fact that we operate around extremely hot surfaces and even more volatile gasses," said Gable.

The welder used his golden glove fighting experience and discipline as a welder to fuse a team of welders and mechanics from Company B, 725th Brigade Support Battalion into boxers.

"I have trained paratroopers from B Company since the beginning of this deployment," he said.

For 10 months Gable trained his team of boxers, not knowing if they would ever get inside a ring and go toe-to-toe with another fighter, but on June 29 the team finally got their chance during the first Friday Night Fights held on Forward Operating Base Kalsu.

"We won three out of four matches," said Gable. "The boxers were patient and vigilant and never gave up."

"The Soldiers are now more confident in training and are going to continue fighting in Friday Night Fights," he continued.

Thanks to Gable and his unique ability to unite a group of troopers and weld them into a team, they have learned to fight through anything they face.

• Date Taken: 07.05.2007
• Date Posted: 07.05.2007 09:17
• Story ID: 11128
• Location: ISKANDARIYAH, IQ